First game as Axis

Well….nice video…I would have to say that was indeed very painful to see the USA played so poorly. As soon as I saw x-ports sitting fully loaded offshore of GB w/o protection I knew they were doomed w/ poor leadership. Interesting that ANZAC was able to roam so freely. Also…how was China able to wipe out Japans air force?  :-o Thanks for sharing this. It’s fun to see how others play. I’ve gone up against some folks that won’t make a move w/o their calculators and electronic apps and ridiculously large forces. Then are completely surprised when they lose. I’ve never played with those type of gadgets. I’ve been playing since A&A was introduced and always come up w/ a game plan, buy accordingly and go for it. I tend to try spontaneous battles as opportunity presents itself. (Such as fully loaded x-ports w/o protection  :wink: ) I win some & lose some…but always learn and have some serious fun. Thanks again!

Agree with Ike here: it really depends on what the rest of the board looks like.

Some options from my own experience:
1. If Moscow falls G9 this means Germany has channeled a lot of resources east.
Strong counter for the allies is to land 40+ units in western Europe. Most likely even Western Germany and then push back west (liberating France) and south (taking out Italy). In the meantime Berlin should be maxed out every turn. Of course Japan must also be prevented a win in the Pacific first priority (defensive spending).
If the allies went ‘Japan First’, this option may not be available to you since it requires minimal spending in the Pacific (i.e. a defensive budget rather than an offensive one).

2. If Moscow falls G9 after the allies went ‘Japan First’ (assuming Caïro is still allied controlled), the allies must of course start channeling more untis into Caïro/Middle East than the axis can. And/or into London, depending on what the axis targets are. Hopefully they are able to do so and start pushing the axis back. Alternatively you can try to liberate another VC. If the allies can build up a huge invasion force/shuck from Gibraltar, they have the flexibility to try to liberate Paris or aid the defense of Caïro.
Defeating Germany after Moscow fell with no meaningful allied threat in the west already in place is no small thing to do…

As the Axis I have noticed that hunting down VC’s too aggressively really means putting their heads on the block (like in option 1 above). IMHO for the axis it is best to be patient. Aim to stabilize economic balance and then jump in the gap the allies have left you. A few examples:

3. If the allies go Europe First (while still preventing Japan a 6VC win), Germany best prevent the allied landings at all costs. This takes away a LOT of resources from the eastern front so Moscow should be safe (except when Russia built too much ‘wrong’ units). In Russia, Germany + Italy need to aim for a defensive perimeter as far eastwards as possible in order to be able to contest or defend rich Russian territories.
Japan should secure India if it doesn’t already have it under control and then make a deep strategic calculation (4/5 turns ahead); will it be possible to grab Hawaii/Sydney if the USA defends it with all its resources while Japan goes all-in to take it and hold it? Will Japan also be able to hold all other VC’s? Could Japan ‘trick’ the USA and then suddenly swing east when it is too late or is the USA-player a bit Pacific-ignorant and do you think he/she will continue that?
If Yes, go grab this last VC. Otherwise, just match the allied (USA) forces and offensive spendings in the Pacific and send the rest to contest the Middle East/Africa. From India (Naval Base), Japan can invade Africa in 1 turn. If Japan cannot take it, can Japan convoy it? I once lost too many indian ships too soon and as a result, got convoyed all the way from the Persian Gulf to the Brazilian coast by Japanese submarines…

I could go on and on with options, particularly about allied strategies for late game ‘JF’ course of events and the axis responses but I think other players have more experience with this and I already wrote quite enough for now ;-).

@Baron:

@Young:

I like your idea of reducing the UK NOs to just Malta for UKE, and just Malaya for UKP, however… just like Japan needs to side step their own NOs to take away UKP’s NO (Malaya), Italy should do the same around Malta, or get help from Germany.

Sorry, I miswrote my intent. I really like your two NOs as they were.
I was just emphasized the main interesting target from historical POV.

Cheers.

FYI Adobe Lightroom will compress the pics but still keep best possible resolution. There are other tools but this one is straightforward to use and the full version is free for 30 days. I’m a creative photographer and use it all the time.

To change picture size - import pics first. Then select pics to change, click Export (bottom left corner) and under File Settings / Limit File Size To, put in the size you want. You can also clean up the white balance and tone to take out that yellow tint.

I like seeing young folk playing the game.  It gives me hope that not all is lost on video games and electronic devices.  My son is 12 and is just starting to get into A&A although we play a lot of other games like D&D, MTG and most recently Talisman.

Nice setup too.  I really need to get myself a setup like that.

@sala33:

I’ve searched a few sites and apologies in advance if i’ve missed this…but i was looking for a set up sheet to continue a global game at a later date. not sure if one exists but we normally play over multiple days and pack up the board (mainly due to lack of room). Just wondering if there was something already created where we can track what pieces where when we go and set up later to continue the game.

thanks.

I’ve got a spread sheet that works quite well for us, here it is……

Game Recorder Sheet.xls

I think it was a great one-time move, and you happened to have an opponent who used blockers well at a critical time. Experienced players would see this happening, and the potential for it, as it unfolded, so it would best be used against inexperienced foes.

A nice idea! After all, it was your war. It’s good to try unconventional things and see how they go.

Russia, to my recollection, had one man in each boarder province, a large stack of Inf, I think the majority if its inf, in Leningrad, and then another in Viborg, with a tank-mech reserve force in Belarus.  It also had some modest inf stacks in the south.

Germany had 7 transports next to west Germany with more then enough inf and artillery to load – the sea lion fiegn.  It also had some inf, say 5-6 strong, in Finland, east Poland and in Romania with I think 6 tanks in support of Poland and 3-4 in supp of Romania and some artillery and mech.  Italy had 2 tanks and 2 mech in east Poland.  Germany also had 4 tac and 4 fighters and bomber all in range of USSR.

It3 opened up Baltics, G4 German blitzed to Leningrad and used transport to land some 14 men and guns.  Germany also moved into all the boarder provinces with Inf and attacked Viborg from Finland. The southern german forces moved forward one space.

USSR response was to attack Leningrad with everything in range, which was the entirety of its tanks and local inf stacks, which if I recall gave them a slight numerical advantage.  USSR won, but the result was devastating for USSR. This army was smashed G5, with Germany using its transports to bring in new units and inf in Baltics.  By G5 the USSR managed to pull together a large force in Bryansk from local units and from Russian reinforcements in an attempt to put together a defense.

On It4, Italy’s small force attacked from Baltic to Western Ukraine knocking out a blocking inf. G5 Germany blitzed through an empty Belarus into Bryansk with tank reinforcements  in Baltics brought up from east Germany. Germany also attacked with southern Tanks and mech force from Bessarabia through Italian hole in Western Ukraine in Bryansk.  Germany smashed the last major Russian force and its air force stationed there.  USSR could only reinforce Moscow with infantry and was defeated.